Partnerships bring Maine Mobile Health Unit, free maternal services to rural families

DOVER-FOXCROFGT, Maine (WABI) - A mobile health unit is bringing free maternal and child health services to rural Maine families, addressing transportation barriers that prevent access to care.

Last fall, the Maine Mobile Health Unit began offering services for pregnant women, new mothers and children. The initiative is funded through the State Maternal Health Innovations Grant and operated by the Maine Medical Association-Center for Quality Improvement.

“If you can’t get to us, we want to be able to get to you,” said Jamie Paul, project manager for the Maine Medical Association-Center for Quality Improvement.

The unit provides tooth varnish applications, assistance with MaineCare and SNAP signups, and other health services. Paul said the program added services based on requests from families who used the unit last year.

“Our focus is on maternal moms who have had new babies, that are pregnant with babies. But we’re open to children, too,” Paul said.

The initiative brings together state and local partners at each stop. The program has 19 stops scheduled this year and will soon surpass 1,000 clients served.

“Transportation is a huge issue. It’s always been a barrier to people,” Paul said. “And we had these existing resources, these mobile units that were there and available. So it’s just a matter of using the existing resources we have to be able to provide those resources to the people that need them the most, where they need them.”

Paul said one child received a lead screening at the unit that showed severely elevated levels. The family was unaware of the issue and was able to get an appointment and resources immediately.

“So, it was able to be done right there on the unit, and then they were able to get things in motion to help that child get what she needed to make sure things were going to be okay,” Paul said.

The unit will be at Lincoln Memorial Library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday. The program also distributes free diapers and wipes to families.